Home
by 17stepsdown
Summary: Having fled their own villages, Sasori and Deidara only have each other for safety. Ever since, they've looked for a life that would suite the both of them. Doing any other work doesn't fit their style, after all, they are S-class Missing-ninja. After an encounter with the Akatsuki, they question whether normal lives really suite them. Besides, neither of them is really "normal".
1. Home

**A/N: Hello again! This fanfic was inspired by the fanfic called "New Life Same Fate" by CaCoPhOnY Of ScReAmS. I hope you enjoy this short tale as well as her fanfic as well. **

**This fanfic was on my mind for a while and it'll serve as a way to break writer's block and keep me on a roll with updating my chapters this summer. I plan to update almost every other day now. Also, this fanfic is not being beta'd, I'm really just trying to improve my grammar now. **

** All characters belong to Misashi Kishimoto. **

* * *

**Home**

**Chapter 1**

**Looking for Home**

"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!"

Deidara huffed and turned away from the maddened puppeteer. Sure, he may be acting tough now but he had also asked himself the same question after he messed up.

"It wasn't _my _fault! That idiot of a store owner should know better than to try and raise the price for a first time customer, un."

"...And for that...you had to BLOW UP THE STORE?!"

"I didn't even buy that much! Just the essentials! The products were already over-priced to begin with but did I have a choice? No, un! The moment he heard we weren't from around here, he tried to cheat money off of us!"

Sasori felt his blood boil at his friend's stupidity. Just when he thought they could _finally_ get settled in somewhere to live, the blonde just _had _to blow up the first store he walked into for groceries. Dammit, he knew he should have come along, but his puppets needed to be unpacked and he really thought they didn't have to move anymore. He _really _thought that this would be their final destination after frequently moving from place to place. Turns out though, if they wanted to settle in anywhere, Sasori couldn't leave Deidara to his own devices or else...well...this happens.

He could definitely feel a headache coming on. Puppet or not, he was still vulnerable to headaches because he still needed the capacity to think at all.

"So what now, un? What should we do?" Deidara leaned against the door frame, awaiting the others answer.

The redhead leaned back against his chair and glared at a random object. This wasn't good, if news went around that a store got blown up sky high than it surely wouldn't bypass the watching eyes of the heads around here. No ordinary person could cause an explosion like that unless they possessed paper bombs or had explosive chakra; and Deidara did.

Not doubt that if they stayed, they were due to meet the authorities. Sasori definitely didn't want that. Staying low profile was easy enough for him, but as it seemed, Deidara was having a harder time with suppressing his habits and ways.

"Well, un? What do we do danna?" Deidara spoke in a more serious tone, urging on an answer.

The room was quiet. Deidara was careful not to say too much, knowing well that the redhead was thinking hard right now. Answers would come quicker if he didn't interrupt his thought process. Not only that, he really didn't enjoy being scolded and yelled at.

"...We-" Sasori was interrupted.

"We're not gonna move again are we?" The blonde spoke in quieter voice.

Sasori frowned, he knew that Deidara liked this place. Better than the other places they had been to. Every time they moved, the place they had previously been would have to be marked off the map and they would never return.

"Look, I know you like this place, but we can't stay here if word reaches the heads in this area. We can stay a little longer but at the first sign something's wrong, we'll have to leave, okay?"

The other seemed to let the information sink in before finally nodding in agreement. Ending off the conversation, Deidara quietly picked up the bags and disappeared behind the door frame.

Sasori was left in silence.

Turning back to his tools on the desk, Sasori would've sighed if he had lungs. Of course, he didn't have any so he simply banged his wooden forehead onto the desk out of frustration. Here he was again, crammed in a tight spot because of a curtain terrorist. He thought that if Deidara liked this place so much that he would act more normally and not do the things he did today. However, it seemed god hadn't answered his prayers...not that he prayed, he wasn't religious.

It had been quite a few years since Sasori had fled his birth place, Sunagakure. Shortly after doing his own work, he bumped into Deidara. The two socialized quite a lot and were both passionate about art so they became best friends despite their different views on it. They had similarities that included both having fled their villages and doing client work ever since. Now, they lived together and travelled a lot. Not that he really wanted to travel, it was just a given thing in their situation.

You see, they looking for a place to settle in and live for at least a few years. Living in the forest and the wild away from any danger of other ninja was to say the least, an uncomfortable way to live. So they agreed to find some place to settle in, even if just for a few years. A few days wouldn't cut it though, he could barely call that living. This was more like briefly moving into houses thinking they could finally rest but end up messing up and hiding away from any bounty hunters and dangers that would result from anything one of them would mess up in. Neither expected to live anywhere for very long, but they were growing tired of the lack of protection and security.

Oh well, two heads is better than one right? They could keep an eye on each other's backs and warn the other of any danger that they couldn't detect themselves. Or well, that's what Sasori thought at first. Now he knew the real meaning behind 'safety in pairs'. Get separated for even a few seconds and one of them decides to blow up a store. Sasori _really _didn't feel like paying for the damage...

He wasn't exactly sure why he put up with his friend's ridiculous antics. Maybe an emotional attachment or the fear that if he got rid of Deidara, that the next guy wouldn't be any better. Art wasn't a very popular subject in their time period, most would ignore art and think of other things. If anything, Sasori would choose Deidara over any other person who didn't think highly of art, but Deidara was just as good as it got. Why he couldn't find anyone better? Well, he was still thinking over that part.

Guess they couldn't unpack so readily now. If they needed to escape than there would no time to pack up and leave. He'd have to have only a single puppet out at a time now, he couldn't just summon ten into his room to lazily lay wherever they landed.

The clock ticked away on his bedside table, reminding Sasori that time existed and he didn't have forever to think about things. Wish he did but that would be unrealistic.

Deciding now was better than later, Sasori pushed back his chair and got up, grabbing a map that was lying around on the bed. Walking into the hall and towards the stairs. Making his way down the stairs he could see Deidara sitting in the living room, cross-legged and laying his head on a small table. He seemed relaxed at the moment, Sasori could tell because he wasn't wearing his hair up in his usual trademark high ponytail. The ribbon was now tied around the bottom of his blonde locks, making a small ponytail on his lower back. Too bad for him, now wasn't the time to be dozing off.

Making his way over silently, Sasori quickly slammed his wooden hand onto the table. Successfully earning a jump and shocked look from Deidara who sprang to life. His expression looked a little like a fish. He seemed to glance around hastily before finally finding Sasori standing over him, a blank look on his features.

Deidara glared. "What was that for? I was just taking a nap, un."

"You can sleep later, we gotta plan where we're going next." The redhead waved around the map in hand.

"Oh...right...un."

Sasori sat down in front of Deidara and unfolded the map. The map was originally of the five great nations but also spread over to the nations outside of the shinobi land. Already, there were quite a few 'X's marked on it in black pen. The entire Land of Wind was crossed out as well as the Land of Earth. The reason behind this was rather obvious since neither wished to go back to their original homes.

The Land of Waves was crossed out because the living conditions were horrible due to the lack of trade from neighbouring lands. The bridge wasn't yet completely built. The land of waves was one of their first choices since they started picking out places to live. This was because the land of waves didn't possess a hidden village therefore, they had no ninja that could threaten them. Though they had their doubts when they first flew over on Deidara's bird, the only thing that really drove them out was when Gato's gang showed up to take over. If they didn't plan on living there, they would've easily taken them all out. However, Sasori wasn't eager to get involved in things like this so they fled shortly after their visit.

The Land of Iron was crossed out as well. Since the land was neutral to previous ninja wars, they thought that the land was open to them to perhaps stay for a couple of years. People said the land didn't have any ninja so they also thought that it would be the same as the Land of Waves but better. However, unfortunately for them, the rumours were correct. The land didn't have any ninja, instead, they had an extremely strong military consisting of samurai. They didn't know this at the time so they decided to move in.

They learned of the Samurai the hard way.

Sasori looked up from the map only to met with a worried look from Deidara. He even seemed a little stressed.

"What is it?"

"...We've been to a lot of places...haven't we, un?"

He could hear the slight shake in his friend's voice. He even sounded a little hopeless. Sasori didn't want to see that look on his friend's face, after all, he didn't want it to rub off on him.

"Yeah, we have." He agreed.

"...So where to next?"

The redhead's eye skimmed the map, vaguely weighing their options. Deidara still stared at him with a look that Sasori really wished he wasn't making. The look was only serving to annoy him since it messed with his concentration.

After a bit, he put his finger on a location near the middle of the map.

"What about Hacho village? I hear that place is pretty peaceful." Sasori suggested.

The bomber gave him a confused look. "Isn't it a bit close to the Land of Fire, un?"

"It's on the outskirts. We just have to get past the patrol and we should be fine from there over."

"...I don't know..."

"Fine, but it's an option. Think about it."

kimming over some other places, Sasori eyed a village close the sea.

"What about Yugakure?"

"Why there? The have ninja, un."

"Apparently they're planning on reducing themselves to a regular tourist area."

"That doesn't mean their ninja are gonna leave, un."

"When a hidden village reduces itself to a pacifist village, the ninja usually go their separate ways and join other hidden villages to keep their reputation going. I doubt anyone's gonna stay." Sasori explained to the younger.

"But they're _planning _to, they haven't done it yet, un. That means they're still around and I don't know if I'm comfortable with keeping my guard up until they leave. Heck, it might not even happen, un!"

"Don't get riled up. I was just suggesting it, relax."

Deidara looked away from Sasori, glancing at something out the window. Eventually zoning out of reality into his own thoughts.

"What about Takumi Village?"

The puppeteer looked back at his friend, expecting to see him looking back. However, he was instead met with Deidara staring out the window with a dazed look on his face.

"Deidara."

"..."

"_Deidara!_" He raised his voice.

"Uh! What?"

"What were you looking at? Is something out there?" Sasori gazed wearily out the window, wondering if the blonde had seen something he didn't.

"No! Sorry, I was thinking...what did you say, un?"

"I asked about Takumi Village. I know for a fact that that village makes weapons and sells them to other Hidden Villages. It could work out for us."

"Danna, you're symbol will no doubt be recognized. I don't think so."

"So? I'll just change it." Sasori shrugged.

"Don't you know? That village stopped manufacturing weapons a while ago. There was a shortage in kunai and other special weapons in Iwa when I was still there. Apparently they stopped providing even basic ninja tools to all the other Nations who used to get them. I went there once because our team leader wanted to negotiate but the people over there weren't all too nice. Trust me danna, you don't want to go there."

The puppeteer raised a brow, seemingly interested in this piece of information. "Really? That didn't happen to us."

"That's because you Suna ninja make your own weapons, un. You guys probably didn't want to show weakness to enemy attack so the people managing the weaponry probably covered it up and started to do it own their own, un. You guys make puppets, why not kunai or shuriken?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Back to the drawing board."

Deidara watched as Sasori looked over the map again. He didn't want to admit it- though he was pretty sure it was written all over his face- but he was beginning to feel their search was pointless from the start. In no way could they find a place they could stay, not while they were labelled missing-ninja. They would be doomed to just wandering around until one of them dies. Deidara's eyes wandered back to his danna, wondering how long before they would part ways. After all, nothing lasted forever. Friends come and go, so at some point, Sasori would probably up and leave sometime. Deidara would be left alone and he wasn't sure if he was ready to take it if Sasori suggested one day that they should part ways.

Art was fleeting, so was friendship.

"Sasori no danna, un."

"Hm?"

Deidara was quite for a few moments, thinking over his next few words. Noticing the nervous silence in his friend, the redhead looked at him curiously.

"...How long is this probably gonna take?"

He didn't end it off with his usual 'un', another sign that told Sasori that Deidara was near his breaking point with all this. He didn't want to show concern, it would only hurt his pride. So the redhead kept a straight face and tried to look like he was unfazed. He usually did this, thinking that it would show Deidara that he was capable of leading them somewhere to settle and not be fazed by their constant failures. Maybe Deidara was near his breaking point, but Sasori didn't want to give up just yet. If he was really committed to this, than he would just drag Deidara along with him if he gave up.

"...Enough time that you should able to take your nap."


	2. Leaving

**Leaving**

Crickets chirped in unison as the night dragged on. Tonight, the night sky was clear of any clouds that would hide it's beauty. However, even as Deidara stared out the window while sitting on his bed, he was unable to appreciate it fully.

His gaze moved from the bright moon to the trees below in the forest beside the house. Mouth set in a thin line, he let his left palm mouth play with the ball of clay in his hand. With the commotion he caused yesterday, no doubt that nobody in the house would be getting a good night's sleep. No self-respecting ninja would let down their guard while there was still a chance that someone may attack them. Especially with his antics, Sasori wouldn't be able to focus on his work tonight.

"What a waste, and this place was so nice, un." Deidara murmured to himself sadly.

With a flick of his wrist, the clay ball went flying out the window and into the trees. Somewhere in the forest, he could hear the frantic cries of ninja as they detected the ball of clay.

"Get away! It's gonna explode!" He heard what he assumed was the leader of the group of ninja.

_POOF_

A cloud of purple smoke rose and escaped the thick brush of trees indicating that it had detonated. More frantic cries could be heard while some woodland animals ran away from the scene.

Deidara stood up from his spot and grabbed a bag full of clay and other items. Slinging it over his shoulder as he casually made his way out of the house to the back yard near where the ninja were hiding. While getting there, he fixed up his green robe that covered up his mesh armour shirt.

Standing casually in front of the chaos, he listened as the frantic chatter among teammates suddenly turned into screams of terror and confusion. Noticeably, some voices were silenced with the sound of flesh being cut and stabbed. A few leaves were suddenly stained by blood, more splattered onto the visible grass that wasn't swallowed up by the poison cloud.

The voices ceased, replaced by the sound of something wooden that clacked as it moved. Accompanied by footsteps in the uncut grass.

Suddenly, a kunai appeared out the purple smoke. Easily dodged as Deidara simply cocked his head out of the way. The weapon made a small 'thud' as it pierced the wood of the house behind him.

"UGH!"

The dying sound was accompanied by flesh against sharpened steel. The gas cloud still covered up the identity of the squad's killer, but Deidara wasn't scared in the least.

"What was that? Don't just stand in front of a poison cloud or that happens." A cool voice scolded the blonde.

Out of the smoke walked Sasori, behind him was one of his puppets. By the looks of this puppet, Deidara could only guess it was unfinished due to it's lack of eyeballs and no cloak to cover up it's wooden body.

"Don't blame me. You were the one who didn't kill'em fast enough, un." Deidara pointed accusingly at the puppeteer. "I was just waiting for you finish so we could go."

"I had a few technical problems with this puppet. I didn't get to test it until tonight." Sasori explained.

His fingers twitched to demonstrate his error. The puppet's arm raised forward, a small hole in the middle of the puppet's palm. With the twitch of his thumb, a senbon made it halfway out before getting stuck in the pipe. Causing the puppet arm to shake and create a wretched creaking sound.

"I think it's jammed. I had to cut the guy down instead."

The terrorist raised an inquisitive brow. "Wait, where'd you get the body to make this one, yeah? Don't tell me you yelled at me for blowing up a store yet you secretly killed someone in the village to make more of those things!"

Sasori frowned and turned his head away defiantly to look at something else. "...They're not _things_, they're art." He mumbled.

Deidara's visible eye twitched.

"SO YOU DID! HYPOCRITE!" He barked.

"Make your stupid bird already."

"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!"

"Pipe down! Someone could hear you you brat! And for your information, the guy I killed came from the next village! Not the one we went to!" The redhead hissed at his friend.

"Same thing, un! You put us at risk before I ever did anything! I think I deserve an apology, Sasori no danna!"

"No way." The former Suna ninja said flatly before he walked around Deidara towards the house.

The blonde growled at Sasori as his eyes followed him. "And why not, yeah?"

"..."

"Don't ignore me, un."

"..."

"Sasori!"

"..."

"DANNA!"

"Just make you damn bird already!" Sasori snapped at Deidara, not wanting to admit that whatever he did was a mistake.

The bomber grumbled in his throat, mumbling to himself as he stomped over to the redheads side. Continuing to grumble, he opened his bag and started to rummage through, look for his pouch full of clay. Sasori tapped his foot impatiently, occasionally looking around to see if any body else was nearby. He didn't like waiting, and he was sure that the blonde knew that better than any other person.

Eventually finding it cramped an squashed in the bottom corner of his bag, Deidara pulled it out and tore a piece out of the main supply. Feeding it to his right palm mouth. Moments later, a ball of clay popped out before Deidara molded it quickly into a clay bird.

"An owl?" Sasori raised a brow.

Deidara glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "Why not? Owls are birds of the night right, un?"

"We're not _that _far up north. I doubt a white snowy owl's gonna fool anyone."

"Who cares, un? Everyone's asleep at this hour anyway."

The sculptor threw the bird on the ground and made a hand sign with his other hand. Causing the bird to grow twenty-times it's original size. The owl spread it's wings and crouched down, ready to allow the two to get on.

Without hesitating, Deidara jumped on the bird and sat cross-legged. Taking off his bag, he put he main supply of clay back into it's pouch and the pouch into the bag. Looking over to his travel partner, he could see Sasori was having a little difficulty getting on. The puppeteer was just standing there, seemingly contemplating with himself whether or not he should jump on.

"Something wrong, danna?"

"...No, nothing's wrong."

Deidara stared at him for a full ten seconds in thought before his mouth curled into an amused smirk. "Don't tell me you've suddenly developed a fear of heights, un."

"I do not!" Sasori flared defensively and jumped onto the bird, easily set off by the blonde's comment.

"Oh really? Than why didn't you get on earlier, un?" Deidara looked forward and prepared to lift off.

"I was wondering if this was safe."

"Eh? Are you doubting my piloting skills, un!?" The blonde suddenly glared back at Sasori, offended by his answer.

The redhead's hands flew up in defense. "No, I'm not doubting your ability to fly the bird. I'm just wondering if it's safe to fly while we left those bodies back at the house. What if someone finds them and tracks us down?"

"How would they track us down? We didn't leave anything behind did we, un?" Deidara's eyes gazed up in thought, wondering if he brought everything and left the house the way they found it.

"...You know what? Never mind..."

"Okay! If you say so, danna!" Deidara shrugged.

With a few flaps, the owl became air born and started to climb the atmosphere. While the bomber was busy with keeping them from crashing, Sasori looked back and watched as the house became smaller and the forest larger with every wing beat. The dirt path looked like a winding road now, and a village was visible just a few hundred metre's away.

Soon, the owl was high up the sky and the house was little more than a block on the ground. Looking for clearings would be harder but it would be easier to disguise themselves up here. If anyone were to see the owl, they'd think little of it since it would look so small in the sky. No one would guess that the bird was bigger than a bison.

A sudden feel of weightlessness that nearly gave him a heart attack quickly brought Sasori away from his thoughts. Ducking down, he sunk his wooden fingers into the clay bird to gain balance. He glared at Deidara who sat the front.

"The hell was that!? You trying to kill me!?"

The lack of response brought down Sasori's rage just a little bit. Carefully, he crawled over to the pilot and looked at his face. Deidara seemed to be having a nice little dream...

_WHAP_

"THE FUCK?!" The blonde's hand quickly flew to the back of his head. His attention snapped to Sasori who looked like someone had just broke his puppets.

"Stay awake you idiot! I'm not ready to die!"

"What!? Are we being attacked?" Deidara was about to scramble to edge of the bird to look for pursuers before he was yanked back into place by the puppeteer.

"No! Fly the bird brat!" Sasori yelled right into his ear, causing the blonde to wince.

"What happened? Did I nod off?"

Deidara quickly regained control of the bird, stabilizing its flight pattern. The former suna ninja gave an expression of relief before answering his question.

"Yeah, and we dived for a few seconds."

"...Sorry for...you know, doing that..." The bomber said guiltily.

Noticing this and the fact that he didn't tack it off with his trade mark 'un', the redhead could easily tell that the blonde artist was genuine with the apology. Mustering up the most calm voice he could, Sasori tried to comfort his friend.

"It's fine, just don't do it again or else we'll both die embarrassingly."

"Right."

The two flew in silence for a few more minutes. Deidara was willing to slap himself, and hard whenever he felt sleepy in order to keep his comrades trust. Meanwhile, Sasori was skimming the ground in search of a good place to rest. In the distance, he spied out a calm river flowing through the forest.

"Deidara, look."

"Hm?" The bomber turned his head in to his left, quickly finding what the other was talking about.

"Land near the river but stay in the trees."

"Sorry, but I need a clearing to land or else this owl's gonna lose it's feathers and crash, un."

"Whatever, just get us there."

Deidara nodded and steered the bird towards the river. The cold wind blew his bang to reveal his hidden eye. As they neared the waterway, the owl began a slow descend towards the ground. Soon, they were just above the river. Not wanting to land in the water, the bird faced it's wings forward to bring them to an abrupt stop. Landing silently at the river's bank. One wing folded while the other was extended with the tip of the wing rested onto the ground.

Sasori stood up and slid down the slope of the wing, lightly hopping onto the ground. Immediately using a couple of chakra threads to pull out two scrolls, he sat down by a tree and went to work.

The bomber came down afterwards and walked to the flank. Pressing his palm to the bird, the owl was engulfed with a cloud and disappeared from it's spot. Looking at his palm, Deidara made sure the owl was back to its original form and placed it into his bag for later use. No point wasting clay that wasn't going to turn into art anytime soon.

He turned back to Sasori, immediately annoyed to see the new addition to his collection being adjusted and fixed. This was so unfair...

"My stuff please, un?"

"Hm."

The puppeteer didn't even glance at Deidara as he grabbed the second scroll and tossed it over. Catching it, the sculptor the walked over to a desirable place to sleep and started to unravel it, looking for the seal that held his blanket. Once he found it, in a small 'poof', the brown blanket flitted down and landed on Deidara's head, draping itself over his figure. Sasori looked over and chuckled a little, not putting any effort into hiding his amusement.

"Quit laughing, un!"

"You look like a bad attempt at a ghost." Sasori commented teasingly.

"I wasn't trying!"

Deidara growled and harshly tore the blanket off of him. Finding a desirable place to sleep, he sat down and wrapped himself in the blanket. Laying down, he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, listening to soothing sound of the water in river.

One of the good things about being with Sasori was that the guy didn't sleep often. He knew that the former suna ninja was a puppet so he didn't require as much sleep as other human beings. Without having any limb muscles or organs that needed energy to function, a lot of his chakra could be saved and stored for more important things. Sure, Sasori was still partially human and was definitely living so he needed to sleep but no more than three or four hours would do and he'd have regenerated enough chakra for a week or so. It was a safety kind of thing. In the position they were in, someone had to stay up and keep eye out for danger. Luckily, Deidara never had to do that for that Sasori's job at night. They made a good team when they wanted to, especially when both were set on surviving a night. Even if it annoyed him a little, the clacking sounds of his puppets were actually comforting. It was a sign that Sasori was still around and gave a safer atmosphere. He would never admit it but he relied on the guy for quite a few things. But even now, there was no ignoring the danger that stalked them day after day. Sasori was strong, but he was still just one person. Even together, Deidara knew there would always be something bigger, much bigger.

"Sasori no danna."

"What?"

"...Where are we going again?"

"Tanigakure. It's in the Land of Rivers."

"Sounds nice I guess, un. Think we could stay there for a while?"

"Dunno, depends on how long it'll take 'till you blow something up."

"Hey..." Deidara argued lazily.

"Don't ruin it this time."

"Right back at you."

"As if. I wouldn't get caught as easily. Did you forget? I killed the third-" Sasori was interrupted by the other suddenly speaking.

"-Kazekage, turned him into a puppet and years later, nobody even has a clue who killed him, un. I've heard it before, danna." Deidara finished off for the puppeteer.

"I don't recall saying 'un' at the end of it." Sasori remarked.

"Stop being picky."

"Just get some sleep. It'll shut you up for a while."

"I'm trying, un."

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, this chapter was kinda pointless other than telling you guys where they were going. I probably won't update this one for a while until I finish planning the outline for this Fanfic. It might take a couple of days or more. This one's gonna be a lot shorter than my other fanfic. If I were to guess, this one should be around ten chapters. Fifteen chapters max.**

**The main character is gonna be Sasori in this one. He'll be leading the show. **

**Please review if you'd like!**


	3. Encounter

**Encounter**

**Sasori POV**

We settled yet again in a place near the Tanigakure. Currently located in the Land of Rivers, I don't think Deidara will running out of clay any time soon. I'm surprised we made it through the week, I expected something to come up within the first day or so.

I think the guy's trying to tone things down a little, haven't heard from him all day. He hasn't done anything even mildly dangerous today, all he seemed to do now was curl up somewhere and sleep. Even now I knew he was sleeping. It was early in the morning right now and the sun had just come up and made the sky blue. Deidara usually preferred to sleep in.

The place was a good size, two bedrooms and two washrooms. Like most of the houses we've been to, it had two floors. This time, I'm on the ground floor while I let Deidara take the top bedroom. There was a balcony so I knew he'd like it. I had to keep him happy or else he might blow something else up. Our rooms were large and spacious, I got the bigger room for my puppets while he got the smaller one.

It's really quiet here, nothing but the occasional animal and the rustle of trees in the wind. Whenever we'd try settle anywhere, we never live in the village. Just somewhere nearby to give us some kind of privacy. We could never actually live right in the village, it'd be too risky and even if people didn't mind-which I doubted they would- they'd hate us anyway for causing trouble due to our ways. I haven't been to a single village that brushed off a blown up house or two. I haven't been to a single village that brushed off having several of their people turned into art. Outcasts are outcasts. The closest we can ever get to living normally is living out here and only visiting to buy stuff or do something that can only be done over there.

Artists are naturally alone. That's why some of us have to stick together, despite our views. There are only a few of us, so neither me or Deidara could really argue about who sticks with who.

I slouch over my desk and rest my head onto the table. In front of me is my unfinished puppet's arm in my grasp. I turn it over, turn it backwards, turn it upside down, turn right side up. It was jammed alright, the senbon was stuck and I couldn't get it out. I'd need to wash it out with water...

Pushing back my chair, I stood up and walked over to the nearest bathroom down the hall near my room. Finding the sink, I turned on the tap and poured the cold water into the metal tube that ran along the inside of the puppet arm. I noticed something black and flaky come out the other end and wash down the into the drain. I think it was blood, maybe. It was black so it was probably pretty old over the course of days the body has been dead. After a bit of gentle tugging, I managed to get the senbon out. As expected, the thickest part was covered in dried blood.

Washing everything off and drying it with a cloth, I headed back to my room and sat down at the desk. Leaning against the wall, my unfinished puppet sat on the ground, it's wooden head cocked to the left. Grabbing the puppet, I lay it gently onto the work table and reattached the arm. Looking at some other parts, I made sure no more dried blood had clogged up any other areas.

Alright, time to test.

I attached the needed chakra strings to the puppet and started to move it around. The marionette sat up in a quick and robotic manner. Twisting a thread, I made the sure the head could make a complete 360 without any difficulty. A few other parts were tested, like how well attached the joints were and how fast the limbs could move to determine whether or not it was a slow or fast moving puppet.

Everything seemed to work fine. But now, I really needed to test it.

Looking through my collection of scrolls, I found a used one that already had puppets sealed into it. This one had some empty space.

Doing the necessary jutsu, the puppet was successfully stored into the scroll. Making my way out, I closed the door. I placed the scroll in my clothes, making sure it was wasn't visible. On the bottom floor, I could see Deidara dozing off on a sofa near the window. His blue eyes opened lazily, I think he heard me.

"And where are you going, un?" His word slurred.

"Heading out to test my puppets. Don't do anything, kay?"

"Mhm-hm." Rolling over, he faced his back to me and continued to doze off into whatever dream he was having right now. I swear, that guy slept as much as a lazy cat.

I was out the door in a few minutes. I didn't need to use Hiruko, I doubted anyone here knew who I was, much less recognize me. I made sure the door was locked after I locked it. Putting the keys back into a pocket, I headed to find a place that I could test out my new puppet.

A ways down the path, I could see two figures walking the opposite direction towards me. At first, they were just two small dots in the distance, but they became much clearer the closer they neared. Their clothing was rather interesting to say the least. Both wore black cloaks with red clouds and a chin high collar. Their faces tipped down, covered mostly by their straw hats with white pieces of cloth that covered some hair and a red tassel hanging down the front. My fingers twitched with anxiety as they got nearer. One had a huge bandaged up sword on his back, this guy was a swordsman for sure.

But that sword...I've seen it before. Where? What was the name of it?

The distance between us shrank. Once we were in full view of each other, I pulled my gaze away to look ahead. I didn't want to make any signs of weariness to these two, for all the signs pointed to being ninja. I needed to keep my cool. No point stirring up any unwanted attention or suspicion at the risk it would blow me and Deidara's cover.

Eventually, we passed each other. The shorter one without the sword walked closest to me. I could hear a small tingle come from the bell attached to the tassel as we passed. Out of curiosity, I spared a nonchalant glance from the side to the both of them.

I relaxed again after passing them and closed my eyes. I didn't want to see any more people on the path today. The sound of rhythmic footsteps were good enough for me.

My eyes opened again. The footsteps from the other two had stopped. Had they stopped walking? Or were they too far away to be heard? Unsure, I didn't stop. Either way it was, I didn't want to draw attention. Just keep walking, look normal, don't pay anymore visible attention.

"Isn't a little early to be walking out on your own?"

Shit.

I paused. I gave a moment of thought on what a normal person would do before I acted. In the most casual manner possible, I turned around and gave them a puzzled expression.

"Huh?"

I could see it was the shorter one who asked. He was turned mostly to me while the taller man was faced towards the road, as if waiting for the other to finish.

"I asked why you're walking alone out here. It's early and the path is mostly empty. Don't you think it's dangerous?"

Dammit. The only reason I had come out so early was because so few people were on the road. Nobody would see where I was going.

"...I like to take walks in the morning."

"I see. Alone? There could be bandits out there."

"I can take care of myself."

The taller cloaked man chuckled in a cynical voice. He turned to me, I could see the bottom half of his face as he grinned, showing off his pointy teeth. Was his skin...blue? No, that can't be, must be just the shadows, or my eyes are playing tricks on me.

"You don't look like much. You're just a teenager."

It'd be a mistake to correct them about my age. I'm actually in my twenties right now. "So what if I am?"

"Haha...just saying."

Questionably, I raised a brow at him.

"Don't mind my partner. He likes to tease people." The shorter man apologized.

"...Okay?"

The conversation paused for a few moments. Letting a silence drift in between us. I felt more and more anxious the longer this dragged on. My finger twitched again, if I needed to, I'd pull out my puppets.

"That's all." The shorter man turned away from me. "I wish you a safe stroll."

And just like that, our conversation ended. The two cloaked men continued on their way while I did the same. That bell, I could still hear it tingle. The sound of a small bell would usually be perceived as a happy thing. But at the moment. It only made me weary.

Those two, they were heading in the direction of the house. For some reason I didn't know, I silently hoped they'd just pass by without a word. Those guys had a weird vibe about them. Being Sasori of the red sand, I don't get scared of many things. It wasn't like those two scared me, they just...there was something strange about them.

No, I should just ignore it for now. No use thinking about it too much.

Soon, I found a spot deeper into the forest where there was a clearing. I made sure there was nobody around before I summoned my puppet.

Once again, I made sure the joints worked properly before attempting the test. Everything worked fine.

I eyed a falling leaf as it fell lightly in the air. I drifted my puppet in front of it and had it lift it's arm. I aimed it correctly before triggering a senbon to shoot out of the palm, striking the green leaf into the tree trunk. My aim was perfect of course, after all, I was at a level higher than any jonin. However, any kind of error in the puppet's build could effect my shot even if my aim was perfect. If my puppet missed, I'd know if something was wrong.

I stayed a little longer at the clearing. Testing my puppet on my own while no one could see me. Every now and then, my mind drifted to those guys wearing black cloaks that I passed by. Who were they? What village did they come from? I had fought many ninja during the third shinobi world war and not once did that get up ever pop up anywhere. The closest thing would probably be those cloaks the Konoha ANBU would wear. It wouldn't be too far off to say that they might be from there, after all, we are pretty close to their nation. But their clothes differed strongly from them somehow. It just didn't seem very Konoha-like to add red clouds to their cloak. Usually, the ANBU cloaks were plain in black or white and with a hood to boot.

That guy's sword...I was sure I had seen it before somewhere. I recognized it! How could I not remember where I'd seen it? It looked vaguely familiar. Those bandages, the skull on the pommel of the sword...where was the connection! I've seen it before! I swear! But, I don't know where I'd seen it...dammit.

Hours were spent in this one spot. The blades on my puppet were surely going to go dull now from all that testing. I couldn't help it, the very idea that I couldn't remember something so memorable, that sword wasn't your everyday sword, that was for sure. I tried and tried again to make a connection between the sword and the cloak, but I couldn't pin it. That design was completely new to me, but that sword wasn't. It made me a little upset to think I couldn't remember something like that.

_CHIC-CLACK_

"Hm?" I snapped back to reality.

My puppet had it's arm raised, ready to launch another senbon. Curiously, I moved the thread again.

_CHIC-CLACK_

That sound, it meant that there was nothing left to launch.

"Oh great, I'm out." I groaned.

This was it. My puppet didn't have any other errors. Pulling out that scroll, I put it away and hid it in my clothing. Deidara was probably up by now, if he wasn't, well, sleeping in was far better than what he usually does.

One by one, I cleaned up the mess by picking up each senbon normally or with a thread if I was didn't feel like getting it. Once they were all gathered up, I sealed them in the scroll with my puppet and moved out.

I made my way back to the house and went inside. Deidara was indeed up now, currently working away in his room at some sculpture I couldn't recognize at the moment. That was normal though, the blonde tended to make things that were unrecognizable. If it was a bird, it wouldn't be a bird I'd have ever seen before. If it was a bat, it wouldn't even be anatomically correct. That's not how I made my art, my art was easily recognizable as a human and it would at least be anatomically correct when it was supposed to be. Hiruko, well, he was different. That puppet was modified specifically for battle, so naturally, most wouldn't even call it human. That was alright though, Hiruko was a just a special puppet. A special case.

Maybe if the chance arose, I could use it against those two guys I passed.

Those guys. I couldn't get my mind off of them. Dammit, I must be paranoid or something. Hmm, I wonder if... Well, I'm done my work anyway. I don't have any corpses right now to make a new one.

Walking into Deidara's room, I sat down on the bed and took a look around. The place was empty, opposite of my room which was now filled with stuff for my artwork. The only items he seemed to own here was a hairbrush on the bed stand and a bag of clay discarded leaned by desk on the floor. If he was working hard, he working hard at nothing since it didn't look like he had made anything yet. If he was detonating his sculptures after a few moments of being created, I'd be seeing scorch marks somewhere. So far, I'd guess he hadn't produced a single piece of his so-called art.

The only sculpture in the room was that bird we flew on a week ago. I think he wanted to keep that one. Just for later use.

Reminding myself of the reason I was here. My eyes settled directly on my friend, who looked rather frustrated at the moment. His hands were at the ready to mold something but from what it looked like, he was drawing a blank. Deidara would move to mold something but pause and then made a frustrated grunt.

"Got a block?"

"Shut up, un."

"What did you say to me?" I growled slightly at him.

Deidara's head whirled in my direction at neck-breaking speed, form his expression, he was pretty damn annoyed. "I said shut up! Stop bothering me, un!" He exploded before turning back to his dead-end sculpture.

"Hey, I just asked an innocent question."

"Whatever, un. What are you doing in my room anyway? I'm busy."

"Doing what?" I smirked teasingly.

"Creating things, un!" Deidara glared at me from the corner of his eye.

My eyes wandered around the room noticeably, annoying him. "From the looks of it, you haven't made anything."

"You don't know that, un." He grumbled at me.

"Hell I do. Just admit it, you got artist's block right?"

"No." Deny. Deny. Deny.

"Then make something. Make your _art._"

"And I will! Just wait a minute, un!"

I stared in silence. Giving occasional looks at the clock for a minute to pass. Eventually, the clock passed one minute and looked back at the sculpture.

"A minutes over, nothing happened."

"WOULD YOU JUST-" Deidara yelled as he knocked over the chair and was about to throw a ball of clay at me. On instinct, I moved back and got ready to dodge the lump of earth.

"HEY! CALM DOWN!" I raised my voice in attempt to stop him.

"-GET OUT, YEAH?"

I quickly moved out of the way of the possibly explosive ball of clay. Watching as it flew by an inch of my face and hit the wall behind me. Like any kind of similar material, it stuck to the wall.

Eyes snapping back to the blonde, I saw him raise his hands with a dark expression on his face. Knowing what he was going to do, I raised my hands in defence and panic.

"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! I'LL LEAVE! I'LL LEAVE!"

Deidara paused.

Relief washed over me when he did. I didn't want to have to replace all my limbs after he detonated it. I didn't have any spare bodies at the moment. I dropped my arms and inched towards the bed wearily. Not wanting to accidentally get my face blown up.

"I just want to ask a question before I do."

The former Iwagakure-ninja's eyes narrowed suspiciously at me. "...Okay, un. What is it?"

"While I was out. Did you see anyone wearing black cloaks pass by this place?"

His eyes narrowed further, obviously thinking the question was strange. "No...I was in here the entire day, why?"

So he didn't see them? I guess it's probably for the better. "No particular reason..."

I swear, at this point he was looking at me with slits for eyes. Standing up, I made my way over to the door as Deidara picked up his chair and sat back down to turn back to work. He eyed me all the way out the door.

"Close it, un."

Doing as he said, I closed the door quietly and walked off to my room. I could just keep this to myself. No need to get Deidara all paranoid about people wearing cloaks. Not only that, he didn't seem to be in a good mood right now. Great, he's probably gonna pester me about my question later.

Just forget it. Don't get involved.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry that I haven't been updating my fanfiction's lately. I'm still trying to get myself to sleep at night and stay up during the day. This is becoming a problem for me and I'm considering splashing cold water in my face whenever I get sleepy during the day. I've got a general idea of what I want to do with this fanfiction now. I just hope I won't put it off for a snooze. **

**What do ya guys think? I wanted to try out doing a POV this time. But I won't guarantee that I'll use it for the entire fanfic. **

**Please review if you'd like.**


End file.
